phosphorusFrancis the Ape and six archbishops and cardinals from North, Central and South America are using a three-minute video to promote the global vaccination campaign against the coronavirus. This video was shot by Ad Council, a non-profit organization from New York, which has been planning and producing advertising campaigns for non-profit organizations around the world for about eight years. In addition to relevant online channels, the Vatican News website also broadcast this video. At the beginning and end of the video, the pope speaks in his native Spanish. In addition to the former Archbishop of São Paulo, Claudio Hummes, who promoted vaccination as a charitable act in Portuguese, other faithful also speak Spanish—including the President of the American Conference of Bishops and the Archbishop of Los Angeles. José Gomez. The video has full English subtitles.
“With God’s help and the efforts of many people, we have a vaccine today to protect ourselves from Covid-19,” the pope said at the beginning. This fact gave birth to the hope of ending the pandemic, provided that everyone in the world can really get the vaccine and everyone works together. The Pope believes that vaccination with the vaccine approved by the competent authority is “an act of love”-loving yourself, but most importantly, loving your neighbors. For individuals, vaccination may be a simple act, a small step, but in short, small steps taken by individuals can bring a better future for everyone.
Vatican vaccinates the homeless
The video is mainly aimed at Latinos in the United States and people in Central America, the Caribbean, and Latin America. According to US authorities, 72.3% of people over the age of 18 received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared with approximately 67% of Latin Americans. In Central and South America, vaccination campaigns are progressing slowly because vaccines are scarce and people are generally skeptical about vaccination.
According to the Vatican’s General Development Authority, only 30% of El Salvador’s population has been fully vaccinated, compared to only 5% in Honduras. Pope Francis welcomed the strict blockade imposed by the Italian government to combat the epidemic since March 2020 and took measures for the Vatican. The Vatican has urged all residents and employees to be vaccinated. Critics accused him of compulsory vaccination. In addition to the relatives of employees, the Vatican has also vaccinated hundreds of homeless people living near St. Peter’s Square and numerous immigrants in the reception center of the church. Among non-professionals working in the Vatican, anyone who refuses to be vaccinated without a valid reason will be threatened with dismissal. The pope himself received the first dose of vaccine on January 13th and the second dose on February 3rd. Francis resumed his travel activities with the vaccinated delegation and made a historic visit to Iraq in early March. Due to the pandemic, he had to interrupt his visit for nearly a year and a half.
